New exhibition of finds from the ancient port of Naukratis at the University of Nottingham Museum

A Greek in Egypt: the hunter of Naukratis is a new exhibition opening at The University of Nottingham Museum at Nottingham Lakeside Arts on Friday 22 July.  The exhibition will examine the ancient town and port of Naukratis on the River Nile. Founded in the 7^th c BC, it flourished for over a millennium. In the 7th century BC a port was founded at Naukratis, Egypt that welcomed the peoples of the Mediterranean to trade. There the Greeks were allowed to build sanctuaries in which to worship their gods, while nearby large Egyptian temples were also constructed. This exhibition will explore the fascinating story of these early encounters between the ancient cultures of Egypt and Greece, Cyprus, Phoenicia, Persia, and Rome, through the objects of Naukratis. The exhibition has at its centre the British Museum Spotlight Loan of a sculpture of a hunter from Naukratis dating to the 6th century BC. It will also show, for the first time, objects in the Nottingham City Museum found by the pioneering Egyptologist Flinders Petrie after he discovered the site in 1884. The exhibition also includes objects from the Ashmolean Museum. Georgia Mallin, Dorset Foundation Head of National Programmes at the British Museum, said: “The British Museum is delighted to be working in partnership with The University of Nottingham Museum at Lakeside for this exciting Spotlight tour. The star British Museum object in A Greek in Egypt allows stories from the BP exhibition Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds to be shared with as many people as possible across the UK. Not only does the tour highlight the British Museum’s major Naukratis research project, but by showcasing the Nottingham City Museums and Galleries wonderful collection of material excavated by Flinders Petrie, the Spotlight show in Nottingham means these objects can now come together to tell a unique and fascinating story.” The exhibition will highlight the on-going British Museum excavations at the site of Naukratis, the 5^th season of work having taking place in May of this year.  It will also show how the collections from Nottingham are contributing to the current research and understanding of the port at Naukratis. Ron Inglis, Service Manager, Nottingham City Museums and Galleries says ‘Nottingham City Museums & Galleries are delighted to support this new exhibition at Nottingham University Museum, with loans of rarely seen items from our collections. We hope that collaborative projects, like the British Museum’s on-going Naukratis Project and this exhibition, will continue to both support and encourage new research into our and their collections and open them up to new and wider audiences.’  A Greek in Egypt coincides with the major British Museum show, the BP exhibition Sunken Cities: Egypt’s lost worlds (open until 27 November) which features objects found at Naukratis alongside 300 spectacular finds from underwater excavations at Thonis-Heracleion andCanopus Clare Pickersgill, Keeper of The University of Nottingham Museum says ‘It really is a wonderful opportunity to show this exhibition here in Nottingham. We also have a fantastic programme of free events around the exhibition including lunchtime talks from the excavators; events for summer festivals including the festival of Archaeology and Heritage Open Day; as well as programmes about the Greeks and Egyptians for schools which will continue even after the exhibition closes. We look forward to welcoming people along to the exhibition and all the activities around it.’ The exhibition will also show the current work being undertaken by the Underwater Archaeology Research Centre at The University of Nottingham, displaying their current work at Pavlopetri in Greece, the oldest submerged city in the world; the 17^th century pirate town of Port Royal in Jamaica; and underwater excavations of lake dwellings or crannogs in Scotland. The exhibition is FREE to attend.